live bait fishing at maclay gardens tonigt

[mbweimar]

wish me luck! im going after the big boys tonight with some live shiners.ill report back later tonight.

[bman]

Go get 'em

[mbweimar]

Morning fellas,i had a pretty successful night last night. Landed 4 bass, 3 of them in the 5-6lb range and one 2-3lb that thought he was a tough guy. I also tried practicing my cast net skills. I have thrown 3 foot nets for years but just upgraded to an 8 foot. I've seen dozens of YouTube videos that make it look so easy, but I just can't seem to vet it to open up...oh well, I'll practice more tonight.

[Rainman]

careful with that cast net and fresh water, I may be mistaken but I thought cast nets were not legal in fresh water...

[Rainman]

I take that back, from what I read you can't take "Fresh Water Game Fish" by net. So if the bait you are catching isn't a game fish then you can catch them and use them to then catch Game Fish...

Here's a link to the FWC site...
http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/reg ... king-fish/

[Rainman]

Or you can read the F.A.C rule 68A-23.002

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleno. ... 68A-23.002

[GaryDroze]

Email me at gdroze@maclay.org or leave a message at 942-7333 and I will be happy to trade cast net instruction for information on location of wild shiners

[neckmoe]

If you put in at the state park do you have to be out by dark?

[mbweimar]

yes, gate closes at dark. unless you buy an annual pass with an after hours pass. then you get the combo to the gate

gary: there are a few shiners in maclay gardens, but they're difficult to catch. it is not legal to take them without some sort of commercial license. i work with the DEP officer that used to patrol the park, so this is what i was told. its legal to take them by cast net since they're not game fish, but leaving with live shiners is a no-no. and even after hours the park manager lives there, and DEP (now FCW) patrols, so its not worth the risk.